


Life

by CaptainDemetrios



Series: Inquisitor Nettie AU [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: AU, Gen, Inquisitor AU, Inquisitor Backstory, Nettie Mirwen Dinlaselan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-05 23:45:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13398804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDemetrios/pseuds/CaptainDemetrios
Summary: Inquisitor Nettie tells Cassandra about how he was rescued from Tevinter





	Life

**Author's Note:**

> several characters from an RP with YouMarriedAnIcarus, but this time Nettie is the Inquisitor

“Your accent is not the same as your brother’s,” Cassandra prodded on the way to the War Room. 

 

Nettie adjusted his armor straps and hummed. Ethalan, Nero and Val arriving in Haven had raised a lot of questions about the Inquisitor. Prodding questions like where he was from, and what his illness was, and how he got it. Nettie had already literally lept out of a window to avoid these questions.

 

But on the way to the War Room there was nowhere to run and hide. 

 

“My accent is Tevene. I’m from Tevinter, until I was adopted into Ethalan’s clan.” 

 

“You… were a slave.” It was not a question, so Nettie didn’t answer. “How did you escape?”

 

It wasn’t the worst of the questions. Thinking about it even made Nettie smile sometimes.

 

“Well I got sick in Tevinter, and when a slave is too sick to work…” he waved his hand vaguely and Cassandra nodded. “Well I was thrown onto a cart to be culled, and when first time it stopped I slipped off and into the sewer. It was disgusting, but it led far enough out of the city, and once I climbed out and saw I was close to the border, I just ran for it. It was the worst my illness has ever been, I could barely breathe let alone run, but I had to…”

  
  
  


He barely remembered that part, head and chest on fire as he struggled desperately to suck in air, his legs moving almost independently of thought. All he remembered was the looming forest ahead, and a haze of red before he collapsed from exhaustion. He coughed and coughed, and got no air, instead spitting blood. 

 

He only became conscious of the voices when they were right on top of him. 

 

“Hey! Hey, get out of here, fuck off! Git! You can’t eat that!” A gruff voice snapped and then muttered in Elvhen. Nettie opened his eyes enough to see an animal run off from the shouts, and two sets of large legs.

 

“Gods, Ethalan, don’t touch a tainted corpse..! We’re supposed to burn it right…?”

 

“He’s not dead,” Hands took Nettie’s shoulders and rolled him onto his back. Blurred by fading consciousness and a red haze of pain, Nettie could make out a frowning Elven face, and a concerned Quanri form over his shoulder. “Dead men don’t bleed. Nero--”

 

“Yeah, move.” The Quanri filled his vision then, and then Nettie felt magic. 

 

He had never felt magic like it before: cool, embracing. He felt the energy flow from the large hands on his chest, into his lungs. He began coughing again and gasped as he drew breath. 

 

“Ah! There we go, there we go! You’re gonna be ok buddy…” The Quanri grinned, and some of the haze and blur became clear. Nettie couldn’t speak, still too weak, and couldn’t protest as the Quanri lifted him like a child, cradling him close to his chest. 

 

“Let’s get to the clan. Sylaise willing, they can help him there.” The elf said. He had a hand on Nettie’s arm, and hesitated to move it. “He’s stable?”   
  


“For now, but the sooner we get him some help…”

 

“Yes, follow.” 

  
  


That was the last Nettie remembered, before he woke up again on a cot. His whole body ached and burned slightly, but his breathing was less wheezy, and his vision less red.

 

He looked around slowly, careful not to move too much. There were tents and carts surrounding him, elves carrying on their business. Halla, not daring to draw near. He had never seen a Dalish camp before, and he felt like an intruder.

 

The Quanri was asleep, leaning against the end of the cot. The elf who had found him in the forest walked up to him with a bowl. 

 

“They said you should eat, if you can. Slowly.” He put the bowl on the stool besides the cot and helped Nettie sit up. Nettie groaned with effort and pain. “You’re alright. It’s a miracle you’re alive, did you know that? Whatever has tainted your blood should have killed you. Not to mention whatever happened before you got to us.”

 

“Ran.” Nettie managed to wheeze as the man put the bowl in his lap. “Ran from the border.”

 

“Fen’harel’s hairy ass, that’s a long way to run on bad lungs,” the man whistled and sat on the ground beside him. “Eat.”

 

“Don’t give me orders” he scowled, though he did lift the spoon and try to eat. 

 

“What’s your name?” The man asked, watching him still.

 

“You first.” Nettie responded gruffly. The man smiled. 

 

“Ethalan. That’s Nero, he healed you when we first met. Your turn.”

 

“Nettie.”

 

“That’s not a Tevene name.”

 

“No, it’s not.” Nettie said simply, and took another bite of the soup.

  
“Well the clan healers did a purifying ritual on you, that should keep the worst of your illness down. At least for a while. They cleaned you up while you were unconscious, and we got you some new clothes. And you need to eat”

 

“I am eating.”

 

“I’m just reminding you.” He put his hands up. “Slavers won’t be able to find you here, you know. You’re safe.”   
  


“They won’t be looking for me, they think I’m dead.”

 

“All the better, then.” Ethalan put a hand on his arm. Nettie let it stay there. 

 

“So what, you clean me up and heal me enough to walk again so you can throw me out once I finish breakfast?” He asked warily.

 

“Of course not. You’re one of the People, you have a home here. Should you wish for it. A family.”

 

“This can’t be real,” Nettie’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I must have died in the forest. Just like that, a whole new life?”

 

“Just like that, a whole new life,” Ethalan smiled.

 

\-   -

 

“Nero and Ethalan, and Val, when she finally met me, helped me integrate into the clan,” Nettie concluded. “When I recovered enough, I was taught how to defend myself. Ethalan trained me himself, and I worked mostly alongside him. He and Nero and Val are my family, by every right that matters to me and to the Dalish. The circumstance of birth matters little to the clan.”

 

“It is no wonder, then, that they rushed here” Cassandra smiled, eyes a little wet from the story. “If they serve the Inqusition with half as much dedication they offer you, they will be fine agents.” 

 

“I don’t know about that,” Nettie sighed “So far they’ve just been blabbing my business to everyone.” 

 

“The Inquisition needed to know of your illness!” Cassandra protested. Nettie ignored her, smiling to himself as he pushed open the doors to the War Room. 


End file.
